Chheang Bopha
“Even [if] we can not criticize the government directly, we must feel free to write. We can reveal something others can not… professionally.”
—Chheang Bopha
Rights workers applaud the impacts of her reporting, noting her healthy skepticism of all institutions, including their own. Bopha’s Cambodian- and French-language news feature reporting reflects a critical and unique view of her country. Bopha, age 28, holds state and nongovernmental institutions accountable, with an effective style one rights worker describes as “challenging, direct … and ethical.” While this approach may put commune chiefs, women, and older men “off balance,” she is skilled at establishing a dialogue with diverse characters.
While her initial attraction to journalism (at the Royal University of Phnom Penh) was wanderlust, she draws her most valuable experience and inspiration from two mentors. She interned for six months with international award winning documentary filmmaker, Rithy Panh, who she describes as “a brave one” who reveals the hidden and sensitive problems of society.
Her inquisitiveness was nurtured by a French journalist colleague, who “digs and asks questions” without preconceptions. “I learned this in my work,” she says, explaining that stories are enhanced by reporters “asking the hard questions.”
She added to this formula an essential ingredient lacking in most Cambodian journalism: time. “Give time to the people. Let them think,” she says. She taught herself to work with all kinds of people, explaining that “nasty, stubborn” people are usually very sensitive and sometimes fragile.
She established her journalism career at Cambodge Soir, a French- and Cambodian-language newspaper (later reporting for Radio France International), where she was given the chance to pursue her own stories. Covering women’s issues – in the provinces – was her initial passion.
In the beginning her colleagues were critical of her refusal to wear a skirt and behavior not befitting a traditional Cambodian woman. “They said, you should work at home, cook for a husband or your parents,” she said, adding “a woman is never understood.” Not to be defeated, she managed to change their opinions “a little bit” when she took to the province – a task others avoided due to family obligations, time limitations and finances – where she says, “the stories are more interesting.”
She quickly established a reputation for being a “feminist,” covering the plight of victims of domestic violence and trafficking, sex workers, and garment factory workers. “I defend women,” she proudly explains, “working together to combat injustice.”
She discovered the power of the media, story by story, as illustrated in her exposes about the plight of garment workers, which she says is about life, revolution, and change. Through the garment industry, she discovered, money propelled women into a world that the “government cannot ignore” and “must pay attention to.” The consequences and context – including disease and poverty – were part of her accounts.
Observers and former colleagues know Bopha is willing to take risks, and she admits her work is “sometimes dangerous.” Venturing to former Khmer Rouge strongholds of Pailin and Malai, to report on the inequity of economic and social restructuring, her unassuming but direct approach remains effective.
However the complexities of Khmer Rouge justice (notably, the ongoing tribunal) are difficult to document, and she struggles to seek the truth while avoiding re-victimizing the victims.
Bopha is analytical, reflective, and principled about the events leading to the closure of Cambodge Soir and her departure from the paper in mid-2007. The management “used journalists to fight each other,” she says, destroying collegial bonds, forcing out most of the French editorial team, and manipulating the Cambodians.
“Even if we cannot criticize the government directly, we must feel free to write something,” she says. “We can reveal something others cannot – writing something interesting, professional.”
She refuses to bend her ethics and independence for financial incentives. “Flexible,” she says, “I hate that word.” The management was operating in “the interests of the rich or high.” Bopha realizes her colleagues were thinking about family and security when they were lured back with high salaries. For Bopha, however, media professionals must be more brave.
Duong Sokha
“We wanted to defend independent media.”
– Doung Sokha, explaining why he led the editorial staff of Cambodge Soir
Soft-spoken Duong Sokha seems an unlikely champion of free expression. With wisdom beyond his 26 years, he says independence is a right the media must claim.
“If you talk about liberty of the press, all media has the right to write what they want,” he says, adding that the media is responsible for reporting professionally and ethically. Sokha knows well that exercising that right can be dangerous in Cambodia.
Sokha defends Cambodge Soir’s June 2007 sensitive coverage of a report exposing the names of high officials involved in illegal logging. Unassuming about the role he played to challenge the independence of the newspaper’s biased management, he says the reason his colleagues selected him spokesman is, “I do what I say.”
He decided to pursue journalism at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in 1999 to provide ideas and information for Cambodians to know about the economy, environment, and culture. His affinity for meeting people augmented his understanding of the issues and provided fodder for his journalism career.
In his four years at Cambodge Soir, Sokha was known for his reporting on justice, human rights and to some degree, politics. He had the skills and confidence to cover some issues Cambodian reporters avoid, including complex trials and trade unions. Daring to expose issues backed with proof of investigation, he keeps professional distance with organizations and friends.
The same colleagues who often sidelined Sokha for being too straight, independent and incorruptible, knew he would stick to his position in negotiating with Cambodge Soir management in June 2007. After management refused to assure the independence of the newspaper, Sokha was one of two Cambodian journalists who did not return.
He began lecturing at the Department of Communications and Media at the Royal University of Phnom Penh because he wanted to encourage the next generation to choose to be independent journalists. He pursued an idea with some former colleagues to start a new independent Cambodian- and French-language newspaper, Ka-set.
Advice for improving the Cambodian media, he says, is “to be independent, ask many sources; respect a moral code; don’t create info by yourself; find more advertising and stop asking support from [the] government and wealthy [people]” – and provide salaries to journalists.
As the publisher of Ka-set, Sokha admits he still has much to learn about writing and managing a newspaper. He says his most immediate challenge to running an independent newspaper is financial. Sokha asserts he is confident about meeting the challenge. “I don’t know if I’m too young,” he says. “Age is not important. What’s important is experience and ideas.”
Sokha has a vision of a Cambodian media that informs people and encourages them to participate in the development of their country. “If all media was independent, government officials wouldn’t do what they want,” he says. “Journalists can denounce corruption and other problems in the country. We will see.”
Related Material
Two Cambodian Journalists Win Hellman/Hammett Writer’s Award
Press Release, July 22, 2008
Vietnam: Eight Vietnamese Writers Receive Prestigious Human Rights Prize
Press Release, July 22, 2008